Sigma’s Doomed Boots Bid Highlights Australian Outbound M&A Woes

Australia has long been coveted by investment bankers in the Asia Pacific as a market where big mergers and acquisitions transactions take place, and therefore also where advisers make more money on fees.

One major hurdle, though, is the low success rate for outbound M&A. On Monday, Sigma Healthcare Ltd. announced it was withdrawing from an up to $10 billion pursuit for British pharmacy chain Boots.

More than $170 billion of outbound M&A deals from Australia have been withdrawn or terminated in the past five years, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

“Failed outbound M&A bids by Australian companies seem ...